New hands on deck at Geelong Community Nursery

Barwon Water’s plant nursery was today re-launched as Geelong Community Nursery under a new partnership with not-for-profit organisation Karingal and its social enterprise Kommercial.

Established more than 20 years ago, the nursery has produced more than a million indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses for revegetation, landscaping and restoration projects and played host to hundreds of school and community groups.

The Geelong Community Nursery is operated as an inclusive partnership between Kommercial and Barwon Water.

The partnership comes as part of Barwon Water’s organisational change program. Under the agreement, Karingal will continue to:

propogate and grow provenance-specific (locally derived) indigenous plants for a range of Barwon Water projects

provide a “hands-on” environmental and horticultural experience for local schools and community groups

supply and maintain indoor plants for Barwon Water offices

Two Barwon Water employees have transferred to Karingal to continue work at the nursery.

Kommercial — an Australian Disability Enterprise and an initiative of Karingal — will take over day-to-day operations at the nursery from 1 December 2013.

people management, specifically around affected Barwon Water employees

customer service

ability to meet performance targets

safety, quality and environment systems

operating competency

ease of implementation

delivery model.

Under the proposed arrangement, almost all employees in these areas would be expected to be transferred to Programmed Facility Management and would not lose any of their entitlements.

No contract has been signed. Over the next two weeks, affected employees will be consulted in accordance with the Enterprise Agreement. Feedback will be considered before further negations with Programmed Facility Management.

Any transfer of business would occur next year, with full contract handover in July 2014.

Programmed Facility Management is a good cultural fit for Barwon Water with a strong local presence combined with a proven track-record in the water industry.

Safety awards win

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Barwon Water commitment to safety has been recognised at the National Safety Council of Australia’s annual awards, with the organisation placing in two of the seven category awards and taking out the prestigious judges’ choice award.

The Barwon Water Alliance won the overall ‘Pinnacle Award’ for excellence in workplace health and safety, as well as the award for ‘Best Safety Leadership Program’. The Barwon Water Alliance is a private-sector partnership combining the skills and experience of Barwon Water, design and engineering company GHD and construction company John Holland.

Barwon Water’s in-house Health, Safety and Wellbeing team won the highly commended award for ‘Best Health and Wellbeing Program’.

The National Safety Awards are Australia’s longest-running, independent awards and acknowledge outstanding work health and safety initiatives.